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What written judgement said about Alex Mann's role in gouging saga
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The top performers from the NPC semi-finals as South Island dominates
By Adam Julian
Canterbury will host Otago in Saturday’s NPC final after both South Island outfits achieved resounding semi-final victories. Otago dispatched Bay of Plenty 41-17 in front of more than 10,000 spectators at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin.
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In Christchurch, Canterbury piled on four second-half tries to dismiss Hawke’s Bay 43-19. Meanwhile, there was joy in Ashburton as Mid Canterbury became the Kings of the New Zealand Rugby Heartland.
Who were the performers of the week in the penultimate weekend of the NPC?
Jona Nareki (Otago)
A dynamic young backline can’t teach old dog Jona Nareki new tricks. The livewire winger put on an electric, instrumental display.
In his 66th game for Otago, the 27-year-old winger scored his 37th try for the blue and gold and was involved in the creation of ample scoring for the hosts. Just before halftime, a 50/22 kick executed by Nareki resulted in a quick lineout that directly led to a try for industrious blindside Will Stoddart. That made the score 21-12 at the interval.
When it was 28-12 to Otago, Nareki ploughed into a Bay of Plenty ruck with the force of a scud missile and snaffled one of his four turnovers, which led to a Cam Miller penalty. Miller converted all seven shots at goal and created an eighth try of the season for halfback Dylan Pledger.
At 31-12, Nareki pressured Blues fullback Cole Forbes into a poor clearance that Finn Hurley eventually punished.
Otago’s victory was their largest against Bay of Plenty since a 62-15 hiding in 2001. In that game, Otago fielded a dozen internationals and that season Otago would make the NPC final, losing 30-16 to Canterbury in Christchurch.
Otago have won seven games in a row for the first time since winning the NPC in 1998. Their winning score of 41 semi-final points is only bettered by the 1998 champions, who trounced Taranaki 61-12 in their semi-final, with Scottish international Brendan Laney scoring four tries and All Blacks Jeff Wilson and Byron Kelleher scoring two each.
Meanwhile, Bay of Plenty have won 50 out of 80 matches from the start of their championship promotion-winning season in 2019 to the present. Three semi-final defeats and a 2024 extra-time final loss to Wellington, however, have prevented the Steamers from reaching the top of the NPC summit.
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Still, there was plenty to like about Bay of Plenty in 2025. Prop Tevita Mafileo appeared in seven games and was named in the All Blacks squad for their Grand Slam tour on Monday, having previously been summoned as injury cover.
Fellow prop Benet Kumeroa has played 35 games for Bay of Plenty and was named in the All Blacks XV on Tuesday despite having never played Super Rugby. Hearty hooker Kurt Eklund always leads from the front, while Naitoa Ah Koi and Nikora Broughton are a model of consistency.
In the backline, Charlie Sinton, Lucas Cashmore, Seamus Bardoul, and Cole Forbes enhanced their reputations and bulldozing winger Fehi Fineanganofo scored nine tries to go with the six he scored for the Hurricanes in Super Rugby Pacific.
Nic Souchon (Otago)
With Henry Bell, A-One Lolofie and Heath McEwan all injured and Liam Coltman relegated to the bench, journeyman Nic Souchon was loaned from Southland to Otago to start the match at hooker. NPC rules allow teams to draft a front rower if they can state a decent enough case as to why they don’t have a front rower within the province capable of filling the void.
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Otago’s lineout secured 8/9 throws, and with 10 tackles and seven carries in 46 minutes, Souchon proved a more than solid replacement against a team he ironically appeared for five times between 2020 and 2022.
In the NPC final last year, 38-year-old former All Blacks hooker Hika Elliott played a rousing second half and some extra time before leaving the field injured for Wellington in their 23-20 win over Bay of Plenty.
Meanwhile, Souchon has had an eventful 2025. The Paeroa-born 28-year-old helped Southland win three games in a row for the first time in 2013, including their first Ranfurly Shield triumph against Waikato since 2011 on August 31. Since 2023, he has played 22 games for the Stags.
In March, he became the 323rd Hurricanes player when he came off the bench for 23 minutes in a 40-31 defeat to Moana Pasifika. He didn’t feature again in Super Rugby Pacific.
Souchon has also played for Canterbury, as well as six games previously for Otago, three of which were successful Ranfurly Shield defences in 2019. In Major League Rugby (MLR), he has played for the Utah Warriors and Old Glory DC.
Sam Darry (Canterbury)
It was something of a surprise that Sam Darry was overlooked for the All Blacks squad on Monday at the expense of the perennially injured Josh Lord. Darry was then spared an international lifeline when Patrick Tuipulotu was ruled out of the Grand Slam tour due to injury.
Darry, who’s overcome injury himself, showed he’s hungry to add to his six All Blacks caps with a commanding semi-final display. Darry topped the hosts’ tackle count with 21 alongside fellow lock Zach Gallagher. Additionally, he won half of Canterbury’s lineout possession and was a towering presence around the park. In the first half, Darry scored a try from close range with a muscular thrust to make it 13-0. In the second spell, he charged down a telegraphed Folau Fakatava box kick, collecting the rebound like Nikola Joki? and supplying to prop Daniel Lienert-Brown, who scored just his seventh try in 92 games for Canterbury.
Tom Christie (Canterbury)
The bona fide Canterbury rugby legend has 51 wins in 78 games, earning the 2018 NPC title and holding the Ranfurly Shield three times. His record with the Crusaders is even better: he has played 72 games, achieving 52 wins, and won eight Super Rugby championships from 2017 to 2023 and in 2025. The openside flanker bound for Newcastle is saving his best performances for last. Against the Magpies, he made 19 tackles, maintaining his lead as the top tackler in the NPC. He also pilfered a turnover that directly led to Canterbury’s first try by Ngane Punivai, made a storming run that helped Dallas McLeod score one of his two tries, and then collected his 12th try in red and black while roaming the wing in the 77th minute.
On the subject of legacy. Since 2020, Hawke’s Bay has had a record of 51 wins and 23 defeats, with a championship title in 2020 and two tenures and 18 successful defences of the Ranfurly Shield. However, two quarter, two semi and a 2023 NPC final loss to Taranaki is underachievement for Jacob Devery, Folau Fakatava, Devan Flanders, Lincoln McClutchie, Danny Toala, Josiah Tevita-Metcalfe and Lincoln McClutchie, a spine of players who have remained mainly together from the almost untouchable Hastings Boys’ High School First XV that won 38 out of 40 matches between 2016 and 2017, outscoring opponents by an average score of 42-7. Fakatava was briefly an All Black, and Flanders is a Super Rugby regular with 56 appearances for the Hurricanes. He ranked in the top ten of the 2025 NPC for lineouts secured, tackles made and carries, securing selection for the All Blacks XV. However, the other players have not yet matched the promising potential indicated by their school careers.
Mid Canterbury – The Hammers are the kings of New Zealand Heartland Rugby after defeating Thames Valley 21-18 in the Meads Cup final at a packed Ashburton Showgrounds – a reversal of the 2024 final, which saw the Swamp Foxes prevail 37-29 at Boyd Park in Te Aroha.
Mid Canterbury completed the season with a perfect 10-0 record, something that even the 2013 and 2014 Meads Cup champion teams, coached by Glenn Moore—the 2017 Black Ferns Rugby World Cup-winning coach—failed to achieve.
Mid Canterbury joins Wanganui (2008 & 2016) and South Canterbury (2021-2023) as teams that have won the Meads Cup undefeated. Throughout the season, they won four games by a converted try or less and scored more than 30 points in all eight round-robin matches.
Co-captains New Zealand Heartland XV prop Adam Williamson and openside flanker Declan McCormack were outstanding in the final as they were all season, with McCormack securing the final turnover as the visitors ominously threatened. Blindside flanker Manasa Samo, who scored both tries in the 21-19 semi-final win over Wairarapa Bush, tackled fiercely. Lock McGregor Best has only lost once in 13 outings and scored a 25-meter runaway try in the final, raising questions elsewhere about whether he might be related to Mid Canterbury All Blacks locks Jock and Isaac Ross?
Halfback Kieran McClea played eight games for Otago between 2022 and 2023. Unsettled, he joined the Hammers and has appeared 15 times, achieving 12 victories. His try in the final helped put Mid Canterbury ahead 21-6. Although winger Raitube Vasurakuta did not play in the final, he is a brilliant finisher with 33 tries in 49 games. Nathan McCloy and Tom Reekie have partnered at first and second five-eighths since 2021, with Reekie finishing as the Hammers’ leading points scorer in 2025 with 120 points.